COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M won its first postseason game in four years Wednesday night, prompting forward Antwan Space to suddenly dream bigger than the College Basketball Invitational.

“We're looking forward to next year, and actually going to the 'Big Dance,'” Space said after the Aggies' 59-43 whipping of Wyoming in the CBI's opening round. “This was huge for all of us.”

A&M will play Monday at Illinois State, a 77-67 winner over Morehead State, in the CBI's quarterfinals.

From 2006-11, A&M had spent this time of year in remote locales such as Jacksonville, Fla., and Spokane, Wash., as part of the NCAA tournament — the Big Dance to which Space referred. After missing the postseason altogether in coach Billy Kennedy's first two seasons, the Aggies finally took a ginger step back in, without even stepping out of town.

“I was really proud of our guys' energy and wanting to play,” Kennedy said of the Aggies never letting off the accelerator before a crowd of 2,346 in Reed Arena. “There are so many teams at this time of the year that don't want to play, if things didn't go exactly the way they wanted them to.”

Save for a series sweep of Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee, little went exactly the 18-15 Aggies' way this season, from a 61-41 home loss to North Texas to five consecutive defeats after starting SEC play 3-0. A&M had closed out its regular season at home on a sour note, losing 69-64 to an awful Auburn squad that saw coach Tony Barbee fired days later, so the Aggies welcomed another chance to try and make things right at Reed in the CBI.

“Having a lead like that gives you confidence going forward,” Space said of A&M leaping to a 21-4 advantage midway through the first half. “In other games, we kind of let a lead like that fade away.”

Instead, the Aggies owned a double-digit lead over the game's final 32 minutes, and offered fans a taste of what might have been this season while dominating the Cowboys (18-15) of the Mountain West from start to finish. Aggies forward Kourtney Roberson scored a game-high 14 points and collected 10 rebounds, and Space also added a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.